As general manager of Target's Savannah Import Warehouse, Rob Bass can rattle off an impressive litany of facts to convey the enormity of the company's new facility at the Savannah River International Trade Park:

The building itself, the largest "tilt-slab'' warehouse in North America, is more than 2 million square feet.

It can hold 153,000 minivans.

One lap around the warehouse - not its grounds or parking lot - equals 1.4 miles.

What Bass wants now are workers who can help fill that gaping space with products that will come flowing through Savannah's ports.

Sixty employees have reported for work at the warehouse, and by March 1, Bass expects to have another 170 workers hired.

By the end of 2007, he puts that number at 300 "with still plenty of room for growth.''

To get started, Target is holding a job fair Friday and Saturday.

Warehouse workers initially will earn $13 an hour, Bass said.

That's slightly above the median hourly wage of $12.88 for the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Bass added that warehouse workers will qualify for raises every six months for two years that will bring them to $16.50 an hour.

Bass is expecting tremendous turnout for the job fair.

"When we've done it in the past we've had as few as 3,000 and as many as 10,000,'' he said. "So, we're not thinking in the hundreds. We would hope to get a few thousand people through our doors.''

By the end of 2007, Target will bring about 9 million cartons - the units the company measures its warehouse stock - but plans to increase that volume to about 20 million cartons by 2008, Bass told the Savannah Economic Development Authority on Monday.

"The Georgia Ports Authority was a great, great partner with us,'' Bass said. "The capacity available at the port allows us to bring in the amount of volume we need to fuel the growth of our company.''

The port's ability to handle an increasing volume helped secure the Target warehouse, and will continue to attract economic development opportunities, said Rick Winger, president of the Development Authority.

"They're a huge part of what we do.''

Want to work at Target?

Target's Import Warehouse will sponsor a job fair to fill about 170 positions by March.

When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: 211 Little Hearst Parkway in the Savannah River International Trade Park. Little Hearst is a new road off Ga. 21.